Philip Aldrick is The Daily Telegraph's Economics Editor.

The UK economic motor is spluttering back to life

To listen to some, you’d think the UK economic motor was purring and Mark Carney will arrive as Bank of England Governor next month just in time to take the plaudits for a turbo-charged recovery. The latest cause for hope has been this week’s purchasing managers indices for manufacturing, construction and now services.

All three sectors showed growth in tandem for May, for the first time since March last year. “The UK economy has moved up a gear with all cylinders now firing,” Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said.

If his maths is right and the momentum carries into June, the UK could be in line to grow at 0.5pc in the second quarter. If that rate can be sustained to the end of the year, the UK would be growing round about trend, which would probably meet Carney’s definition of “escape velocity”.

And if the UK is at “escape velocity”, Carney has said interest rates could start rising. And there’s the rub.

Any evidence of growth is to be celebrated, even though there are a lot of “ifs”, but it must not be forgotten that the economy remains extremely fragile.

Households are still grappling with burdensome debts so will not recover their former spending power for some time to come. The Government will cut spending for another four years at least. And the banks aren’t likely to be weaned off state life support until half way through the next parliament.

Rate rises, whenever they come, will act as a brake on growth as the country goes through the economic physiotherapy of removing the crutch of historically low rates to standing on its own feet. But the physio is essential as easy money is distorting the market and laying the foundations for the next crisis.

The good news is that the evidence is pointing towards an initial recovery. But it will only be enough to get the UK out of intensive care and into the general ward. From there, the cheap money drip will have to be removed, which will be a painful process for a country that has been conditioned over the past four years to expect rates of 0.5pc.

Only then will the economic motor really start to purr. The financial crisis was the mother of all car wrecks, after all.